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Teenage Girls Have Invented Straws That Test For Date Rape Drugs

And they're pretty simple to use.

By
Emily Thornhill

Jun 6, 2017

Getty

Three teenage girls have invented a smart straw that can alert you to the most common date rape drugs. The straws turn blue when they detect the drugs in both non-alcoholic and alcoholic drinks, reports Refinery29.

The straws test for GBH and ketamine, two of the most commonly used drugs used to incapacitate victims.

Susana Cappello, Carolina Baigorri and Victoria Roca of Gulliver Preparatory secondary school told the Miami Herald that they set about creating the Smart Straws with the "goal to reduce [date rape] statistics" while competing in the Miami Herald's Business Plan Challenge – which they went on to win.

As part of their project, the three girls conducted a survey at Northwestern University which found that half of the respondents knew someone who had been drugged at a party. A further 85 per cent said they'd use the discrete product that the girls had invented.

"Rapes assisted by drugs or alcohol are all too common," Cappello told A Plus. "We just want to give any gender a simple tool to protect themselves."

However there are many more drugs available which wouldn't necessarily be detected by the straws, which the girls are aware of. "We know it's not a solution because it can't end rape," they told Inside Edition, though they hope to "lower the amount of rape and dangerous situations you might be in through drugs".

Refinery29 went on to report that Cappello, Baigorri and Roca are currently working with a manufacturer to produce a test kit – that is also recyclable – and are planning to crowd-fund the campaign.

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